"With those who do not give a damn about baseball, I can only sympathize. I do not resent them. I am even willing to concede that many of them are physically clean, good to their mothers, and in favor of world peace. But while the game is on, I can't think of anything to say to them."

Cheers to Alex for making me stutter out gobbledy gook gibberish at 6pm to no one in particular. (Few things are more frustrating in life than the frantic-head-whipping-around-looking-for-someone-to-commiserate-with-only-to-realize-you're-gonna-have-to-let-this-one-register-in-private-and-save-for-later-story-telling situations.)

Does anyone remember when Johnny Damon came over to play for the good guys? I mean, yes, of course everyone remembers his acquisition. I'm talking about his attitude post-acquisition. I remember when Boston was playing the Yankees for the first time after the deal, and they idiot losers from the Beantown bench, were trying to get Damon to come out with them while they were in town. And Damon was all, "no, thanks. No time. I'm with the Yankees now."

Which some may see at Benedict Arnold-y, but people who see it like that are people who don't understand the concept of business ethics.

YOU JOIN A NEW TEAM...you're ON a new team. That's how it works. You're not a Red Sock anymore. Get over it. Or don't play. Or, to take a highly controversial and hotly contested page from my mom's book: "Either do it with a good spirit, or don't do it at all." (Never a good idea to offer a reluctant child or husband anything with an opt-out clause of "not doing it at all.")

But, in this case, that's what I want to tell Youk. So far, not so impressed.

"I'll always be a Red Sock," Youkilis said. "To negate all the years I played for the Boston Red Sox, and all the tradition, you look at all the stuff I have piled up at my house and to say I'd just throw it out the window, it's not true. Those were great years in Boston. One bad half-year doesn't take away from all the great years I had there." (courtesy espn.com)

Actually, my favorite part of that article is when they're talking about the famously feuding couple, Joba and Youk.

"Although Chamberlain said the two have exchanged text messages, they have yet to speak face-to-face."

HAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAH! Amazing!! How has no one pulled the LUDs for their cells yet??

I read once that Joba sends like 200 texts a day. He was really proud of it, like how he texts faster than he pitches. Because, you know, that's what the Yankees are paying him for. The dexterity of his sausage fingers against an iphone keypad.

I mean, I'm assuming he has an iPhone, but I really don't see how this ia physically possible, since I'm imagining that texting on those confetti-sized iPhone keys, using fingers that could double as inflatable bowling bumpers...is probably something akin to this:

Anyways, so Youk is already pissing everyone off. He's going to get bitchslapped so fast that Joba won't even be able to text about it in real time. Seriously. I kind of wouldn't be 100% averse to a Full Metal Jacket type of beating here, just to send Youk a message. And anything that involves soap wouldn't really be a bad thing for him, either.

"THE HAT" is back in my clutches. After 2 years of searching endlessly for it, hours every day googling every avenue possible, contacting the manufacturer, begging random strangers to let me buy it from them...it all came to a glorious conclusion yesterday, right in time for Pitchers and Catchers Day.

As if the offseason wasn't bad enough with the whole ALCS thing still looming large in our memories, then the north gets hit with an apocolypse in the form of Sandy. Kind of made us put things in perspective, to say the least. It was a nightmare. I was living in Long Beach, never evacuated, and when all was said and done, the town was completely decimated. Honestly, when the water finally receded and I could walk around, it was like something from a SciFi movie.

Mariano Rivera was being very brave.

The efforts and charities and fundraising have done more than just provide shelter and support for Sandy victims...they've also provided a sense of encouragement and hope that this, too, shall pass.

So when I heard about a former Yankee working towards this, I knew it was a worthwhile cause. And when I read more about it, I couldn't think of a better way for our great American Pasttime to come to the rescue of Sandy victims:

Former Yank Smalley Gives Glove for Sandy Relief

During his 13-year MLB career, former Yankees shortstop Roy Smalley had more gloves, bats and balls than he knew what to do with. But now, the part-time Twins broadcaster and wealth advisor for Morgan Stanley in Minneapolis, spends his free time searching for used baseball equipment to make sure all kids have the chance to take the field.

Smalley's organization, Pitch in For Baseball a not-for-profit that collects and redistributes new and gently-used youth baseball/softball equipment to communities in need all across the world, is donating $150,000 worth of baseball equipment to youth baseball leagues and communities in the New York/New Jersey area that were impacted by the devastation of Hurricane Sandy including the towns ofIsland Park, North Merrick, Oceanside, Rockaway and East Rockaway on Long Island and Bayonne and Bayshore in New Jersey. On Wednesday (Feb 13) the first PIFB shipments arrived in Oceanside and Island Park.

“As communities get on their feet after a disaster, it’s important to restore a sense of normalcy and nothing is more normal than youngsters taking the baseball fields in the Spring,” said Smalley, former MLB All-Star and President of Pitch in for Baseball. “Hurricane Sandy destroyed the contents of youth baseball equipment sheds and washed away bats, balls and gloves in flooded basements and garages in all of these communities. We hope helping replacing some of the baseball equipment that was lost will allow these people to focus upon rebuilding their lives.”

Smalley spent parts of 3 seasons ('82-84) at shortstop for the Yankees and held the team's single season HR record of 20 before Derek Jeter hit 24 in 1999. He was an MLB All-Star in 1979 and a member of the Twins 1987 World Championship team. Smalley is the son of former MLB shortstop Roy Smalley Jr, who preceded Ernie Banks at shortstop for the Chicago Cubs from 1948-58 and is the nephew of former MLB manager Gene Mauch. In 2012, Roy received the Kirby Puckett Award for community service from the Twins.

People can support the efforts of PIFB by donating new or gently-used baseball equipment, or by making a financial donation. To donate visitwww.PitchInForBaseball.org or text the words “Give Gloves” to 80088 to make a $10 donation (normal text messaging rates apply).

Pitch in for Baseball has been assisting kids and communities in need since 2005, many of those efforts in the form of disaster relief. PIFB has provided much needed baseball and softball equipment following tornadoes in Joplin, MO and Henryville, IN, to communities in Japan impacted by the tsunami and earthquake, to flood-stricken Nashville in the spring of 2010 and many in Mississippi following the severe weather in Spring 2011.

After a long offseason where the Yankees did
approximately nothing, pitchers and catchers are finally reporting to camp this
week. Or maybe it’s just pitchers reporting, as the case may be, since as far
as I can tell, the Yankees may just be wheeling out one of those neon yellow
plastic men in school zones to complete the batteries.

﻿

New catcher needs to change his hat.

﻿

I was at Dorrian’s last night and talking to
bartender Mehlman about how this season isn’t exactly inspiring the normal
degree of WOOHOO-ness as baseball season for Yankee fans typically does.

I mean, yeah, of course, I’m going to land on
the same prediction I have every year, which is that the Yankees are going to
win the World Series.

But this may be the first year in recent years where such
a contention isn’t like saying “I bet it snows this winter!” so much as it’s
like saying, “I bet my cat becomes an integral element of the new Cirque du Soleil
production!”

Oh wait, I forgot. We have Super Mario and
Chris Stewart returning. Super Mario may not be the best nickname for him
anymore, though. It made sense in 2009 when Cervelli was like little
star-induced invincible Mario.

And there’s Chris Stewart, who I like(d). I
did until he basically told us 2 days before pitchers and him/Cervelli report
to camp, “I’m gonna do the best I can and all, but like don’t expect much
hitting wise. Seriously. Like, I’m not gonna hit at all pretty much.”

I’m not kidding. I know I like to splish-splash
in the hyperbole pool so often that I usually end up looking like a giant prune
by the end of the blog post. But compare the above to what he actually said,
which is this:

“I can still win ballgames
without getting a base hit…I’m not going to say it doesn’t really matter what I
do at the plate. I’m still trying to be the best hitter I can be. But if I’m
doing the job behind the plate, then I know my goal behind the plate is being
taken care of. Everything else is extra.”

Yep, that’s how it works, Chris!
I’d love to have him in the office. “Um, boss? I see NOTHING in my job
description about having to stay past 5. I mean, I’ll see what I can do. But
that’s extra.”

Oh, yeah. Then there’s Arod. I just talked
today to my Mariano Rivera (in the grand scheme of Fantasy Friend teams), who
is such an awesome friend that he reads my blog despite having close to zero
interest in baseball or the Yankees. “Hey, how come I didn’t see anything about
Arod on there? I was SURE you were going to have to resurface to comment on
that.”

Now I feel stupid.

But he is right. I just have to tread lightly
because someone else I know (cough..Laur…cough) may have significantly
dissenting opinion on the matter.

Earlier today with Laur:

“What do you think about this whole Arod
thing?”

“Oh, God. Now what'd he do?”

“No one at work has been giving you shit about
it?”

“Whatever he did, Arod’s right and everyone
else is wrong.”

“He thinks there’s a whole conspiracy theory
thing against him.”

“Well, then there is, and the feds should be
looking into it.”

So, there’s that. Arod, you make it very
difficult for normal people to defend you. I can roll my eyes at the whole
steroid thing because, good grief, we get it. You did steroids. We know. So did
the rest of the world. You weren’t on steroids in 2009, though, which is all
that matters to me, since that was the only time you really mattered to the
Yankees, contribution-wise.

But the conspiracy theory? I’m picturing Arod
in some kind of a “Beautiful Mind”-esque room, with all these post-its and
line-up cards and box scores taped on the wall—interspersed with random
pictures of Madonna and Kate Hudson and a slew of unidentified jacked blonde
women that he finds in Unidentified Jacked Blonde Women AOL chat rooms--with
him frantically drawing lines between them.

Arod's bedroom.

(Of course, all the while his life
coach is rubbing his back saying stuff like, “Good. See, you didn't even need a ruler
for that line!”)

Yeah, so how much does it suck to be a Yankee
decision-maker right now? (STOP. I’m already hearing, “YEAH, POOR GUYS RAKING
IN SO MUCH MONEY BLAH BLAH ETC. Just..stop.) I mean, look at what they’re up
against:

Arod’s rocking back and forth in a fetal
position like, “IdontwannaIdontwanna. Make the voices stop!”

Jeter’s like, “OK FINE I GAINED A FEW POUNDS.
I’M ALSO DEREK F@#$%ING JETER. I also have no ankle. Go away.”

Mo, being Mo, is like, “Ok, I’m here! Put me
to work! I like everyone and everything. Just tell me who I'm throwing to! Can't wait to get back to playing. Oh. We don't do catchers anymore. I see." (If that were my Dad, he'd blame "the kids downloading stuff all the time" which his go-to scapegoat for all problems that fall in the passage of time/technological advances buckets.)

Then there’s Joba and Youkilis getting into
fist fights over the last chocolate milk in the milk cart.

There’s a catcher who is excited about
catching as long as he doesn’t have to bat. (Yeah, cuz, you know, slugging
catchers these days are so last season. Or so every-team-not-the-Yankees,
anyway.)

A designated hitter who seems like he’s 73
years old for some reason, but is actually a young 36. (I still have a bad
taste in my mouth from when Pronk hit a walk-off to beat the Yanks in the
midge-game.) The Indians, btw, have found suitable replacement for Pronk in the
form of Jason Giambi. Who stills play baseball.

(Hilariously, the Rockies were like, “Umm why
don’t you just be our hitting coach, mmkay? How about that?” And Giambi said, “Nah,
I’m good!” Kind of like in My Cousin Vinny when Vinny’s all, “Maybe it’s time
for a thicker pair of glasses,” and 84-year Mrs. Riley says, “No, no. I think
they ok.”)

I have to assume this is why the Yankees
worked the offseason market about as effectively as a malfunctioning Hungry
Hungry Hippo, whilst all the other hippos were like MINEMINEMINE.

They’ve been keeping a low profile because
look at the ridiculousness of the team right now. They’re basically like covering up cat poop with kitty litter so they don’t have to look at it anymore.

I also think the season is off to a completely
insane start already, despite the tame nature of the offseason, since the
Yankees have—I swear to God—been described as “cheap.” It’s hard to corroborate
the whole “buy their team” nonsense if they’re going to be described as “cost-cutting.”
(Yes..geez..their cost-cutting payroll is still large etc etc, but back off
haters! You non-New Yorkers get to live in HOUSES with yards and rooms and
space for like nothing. So you get a cheaper baseball team. Call it even.)

However, apparently Hal isn’t crazy about this
new persona, and would like to perpetuate the Unfair-Advantage-Due-to-Payroll
whining for as long as possible:"There was
nothing cheap about Kuroda's contract or Pettitte's contract! I
mean, I don't know. Sometimes I have to scratch my
head.''(You’re not the only one, Hal.)

Where does that leave us, in the
final moments of the offseason, as we anxiously await Tuesday’s Pitchers and SuperMario/Stewart Day?

I’m not pessimistic nor optimistic. (Weird. I don't spend a lot of time in this purgatory of baseball emotions.)

Honestly, though, let's call a spade a spade here. It’s the
freaking Yankees, for God’s sake. OBVIOUSLY, they are going to be in the
playoffs. Their pitching and bullpen are great. (Oh my God, who is this team? I’m
so confused.)

It’ll be another weird season.
Last year was weird in a going to a friend of a friend of a friend’s cocktail
party where you know no one, and there’s only 6 people there, all of which only
speak Papiamento.